Road scraper



may 2Q, 1924o E. C. GLEDHll-.L

ROAD SCRAPER Filed Aug. le. 1023 2 Sheets-Sheet l a?. as@ avuta@ May 2n1924, 1,454,352* k` A E. C. GLEDHILL ROAD SCRAPER Filed Aug. 1e, 1925 2shears-sheet 2 V- 6T @Ze/62222522 Patented TEU TATES EDWARD C. GLEDHILL,0F GALION. OHIO.

ROAD scRArEn.

Application led August 16, 1923. Serial No. 657,788.

Tn 077 'wl/om may concern:

lie it known that l. EDWARD C. Gmini-ULI.. a citizen of the UnitedStates. residing at Galion. in the county of Crawford and State of Ohio.have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Road Scrapers` ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to road Scrapers and its primary object is tosimplify the construction and operation without any loss of strength oreiiiciency. One important object of the invention is to provide amachine in which the scraper or blade may be tilted, reversed andvertically adjusted from one point so that a single operator may easilyperform the several operations to bring the blade into the desiredposition. Another object of the invention is to Vprovide means wherebythe propelling` force will be applied to the blade at the back of thesame.

and a further object of the invent-ion is toprovide a single memberwhich may be variously operated to determine the position at which theblade will work, and the invention seeks to attain the stated objectsthrough means which will be free of complicated constructions orarrangements. The several stated objects of the invention, and otherobjects which will appear incidentally in thecourse of the followingdescription, are attained in such an apparatus as is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. and the invention resides in certain novelfeatures which will be hereinafter first fully described and thenparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a road scraper embodying myimprovements` the near wheels being omitted, and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

In carrying out my invention. I employ a main frame consisting ofparallel longitudinal channel bars 1 which are supported at their frontends upon a truck 2 mounted y upon ground wheels 3 and to which isconshown at 9. and connected by a bed plate 10 whereby a rigid structureis produced, and.

to further strengthen the device, gusset plates 11 are secured to thelower portion of the bars 8 and to the side bars 1, as clearly shown.The bed plate 10 is provided centrally with an opening through which anoperating screw or threaded rod 12 may freely pass, and upon the saidbed plate around the screw is rigidly secured a cap or head 13 in whichthe hub 14 of a band wheel 15 is swiveled. The hub 14 is internallythreaded or grooved so as to engage the threads of the rod 12 whereby.if the hand wheel be rotated, the said rod or screw will be caused tomove vertically without rotating. vThe threaded rod or screw terminatesat its upper end in an angular stud 16 upon which is fitted a lever orturning bar 17 whereby the screw may be rotated bodily when desired.Below the bed plate 10` I mount upon the screw or rod 12 a second handwheel 18 which also has its hub 19 internally threaded or grooved so asto engage the threads of the rod whereby. it the said hand wheel berotated. it will be caused to ride up or down upon the screw. The rod 12extends downwardly below the frame bars 1 and its lower extremity isleft smooth o1l Unthreaded, as shown at 20.*straps or hangers 21 beingsecured to and depending below the lower extremity of the rod at thesides of the same. and through the lower ends of the said hangers isfitted a pivot. bolt or pin 22 having studs 23 projecting forwardly andrearwardly between its ends and between the said hangers. Pivotallyengaged upon the studs 23 are brackets 24 which are secured to the backof the blade or moldboard 25 at'the center thereof and at the upper edgeof the same and also to the front end of a push bar 26. It will bereadily understood that this arrangement rovides a universal jointconnecting the b ade or moldboard and the front end of the push bar withthe lower end of the screw or rod 1:?. so that the mold board may betilted relative to the rod or may be caused to move verticallytherewith. The connection between the rear bracket 24 and the front endof the push'bar 26 is effected by a pivot pin 27 inserted through thebracket and the front end of the push bar so that the moldboard may beturned pivotally relative to the push bar and thereby reversed or setthe front end of the push bar.

line of draft. A semi-circular locking bar 28 is secured to the rearside of the moldboard and is reinforced by braces 29 in an obviousmanner, the seml-circular locking bar consisting of an angle bar havingits upper lateral flange 30 provided with open- `ings 31 therethrough,through any one of equipped with a ball 36 engaged and held in saidsocket so that it may turn freely in all directions and thereby followthe adjusting movements of the scraper blade or moldboard. Braces 37extend between and are secured to the lower end of the bracket 34 andthe side bars 1 so that the thrust upon the bracket will be etfectuallyresisted and the scraper blade will be pushed forward over the road asthe machine is drawn for- Ward. The push bar 26 is preferablycylindrical, as shown clearly in Fig. 2, and its front end extendsbetween guides 33 which are suspended at their upper ends upon a crossbar 39 which is secured in and extends between the frame bars 1, as willbe readily understood. Braces 40 are secured at their upper ends to theframe bars 1 and at their lower ends to the sides of the guides 38 sothat the guides will be positively held against lateral movement andwill, therefore, efficiently perform their function of guiding The lowerends of the guides are connected by a bolt 41 having a spacing sleeve 42fitted around the same between the guides so that the guides will beprevented from binding upon the push bar as the same moves verticallybut will etl'ectually restrain thc bar against lateral movement. rlheguides are preferably angle bars having' their inner webs disposedparallel and longitudinally of the machine so that smooth surfaces willbe presented to the push bar and wear upon the same minimized.

The hub 19 of the hand wheel 18 is constructed with an annular externalgroove 43 within which is fitted a collar 44 and to the said collar ispivoted the upper end of a link 45 which extends downwardly andoutwardly from the collar and has its lower end pivoted to the blade ormold board 25, as shown at 46.

Across the main framebars 1 immediately in rear of the gusset plates 11,I secure a plurality of transverse platform bars 47, and a,

seat 48 is carried by a standard 49 rising from some of said bars.,

It is thought the operation of the scraper will be readily understoodvThe machine meegaan may be drawn over a road by draft animals or by atractor as may be preferred, and the blade will, of course, be caused totravel with the main frame and will thereby reduce all projectingportions of the road surface and turn the dirt thus taken up into thehollow portions of the surface so that the desired smooth crown lor roadwill be produced. It will be readily noted that the propelling force isapplied to the back of the blade in my machine and I thereby provide anunobstructed area in front of the blade so that there are no elementswhich are liable to collect and hold the dirt and interfere with thedesired easy action of the blade. Buckling of the blade is moreedectually resisted also by my present arrangement and the propellingforce is not only applied through the front end of the ush bar but isalso transmitted through t' e semi-circle 28 and the braces 29 so thatit is distributed through the area of the blade. To adjust the bladevertically so that it will run at the proper depth and also to lift thesame free of the ground when it is not to work, the hand wheel 15 isrotated and, as this hand wheel is swiveled upon the vertical frame and,therefore, cannot move vertically, it imparts a vertical movement to theworm or screw 12 without rotating the latter. rl`his vertical movementof the element 12 is transmitted directly to the blade and the front endof the push bar so that the push bar will move vertically between theguides 38 and the blade and the parts connected therewith easily set atthe desired height. rlhe hand wheel and the threaded rod constitute aWorm gear which will automatically remain in the position in which it isset so that extraneous locking or braking means is not necessary inorder to hold the blade in the adjusted position. To tilt the blade soas to give the desired pitch to the crown of the road, the hand wheel 18is rotated and will be thereby caused to ride up or down upon the wormor threaded rod 12. This movement of the said hand wheel A is impartedto the link 45 and through the same to one end of the blade so that thesaid end will be raised or lowered and the opposite end thereofcorrespondingly lowered or raised, the blade moving pivotally throu hthe engagement of the brackets 24 upon t e studs 23 and the push bar 26rotating about its own longitudinal axis, as will be readily understood.To reverse the blade or set the same at any desired angle to the line ofdraft, the locking pin 32 is released and the lever 17 is then turned sothat the screw or threaidn ed rod 12 will berotated about its verticalaxis, and this rotation will be imparted through the pin 22 and thestuds 23 thereof to the brackets 24 which will be thereby turnedpivotally about the in 27. 'When the blade has been set at the desiredangle, the locking pin 32 is 11e-engaged through the meeste push bar andthe iiange 30 of the semi-circle 21 and the blade thereby secured in theposition in which it has been set. Should the rotation of the rod 12have effected a vertical shifting of the same, it may be returned to theproper vertical position by rotating the hand wheel l5, as will bereadily understood. The vertical movement, however, due to rotation ofthe screw, will be so very slight that, in many instances, it will benegligible and may be disregarded.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, it will be seen that I have provided a verysimple road scraper which may be operated by one man and in which theblade may be quickly' brought into any desired position and, when set,will be maintained in that position without complicated extraneouslocking devices. It will also be noted that the worm screw or threadedrod 12 constitutes the main support for the blade and the dead weight ofthe machine is reduced through the elimination of surplus parts withoutany loss in the strength of the machine or the durability or eticiencythereof.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a road scraper, the combination o a main frame, a blade-supportingelement mounted upon the main frame, a blade connected with the lowerend of said elementby a universal joint, means for rotating saidelement, vmea-ns for effecting vertical movementof the said element, andmeans cooperating with said element for tilting the blade.

2. In a road scraper, the combination of i a main frame. ablade-supporting element carried by said frame, a blade connected withthe lower end of said element by a universal joint. means for rotatingsaid element and the blade. means for adjusting said element andtheblade vertically, means cooperating with said element for tilting theblade, and a push bar having its front end pivotally connected with theblade and. its rear end rotatably supported by the main frame.

3. In a road scraper, the combination of a main frame, ablade-supporting element mounted thereon, a blade carried by the lowerend of said element., and a` single central push bar having its fronten'd plvotally connected with the bladeand its rear end supported by themain frame for universal movement.

4. In a road scraper, the combination of a main frame, a rigid bracketdepending from the rear end of said frame, a blade. arranged in front ofsaid bracket, a single central push bar having its rear end carrieddirectly by said bracket and having universal movement relative theretoand its front end pivotally connec with the blade, a vertically disposedblade-carrying .member mounted on the main frame and having its lowerend connected with the blade by a universal joint, and rigid bracessecured to the main frame and to the said bracket, the pracketsustaining the thrust of the push iar.

5. In a road scraper, the combination of a main frame. arigid bracketdepending from the rear end of said frame. a blade arranged in front ofsaid bracket, a single central push bar having its rear end carrieddirectly by said bracket and having relative universalmovement and itsfront end pivotally connected with the blade, and a vertically disposedblade-carrying member mounted on the main frame and having its lower endconnected with the blade by a universal joint.

6. In a road scraper, the combination of a main frame, a single blade-suporting member mounted on the frame. a b ade carried by the lower end ofsaid member, a rotatable central push bar having its front end pivotallyconnected wit-h the blade and having its rear end supported foruniversal movement at the rear end of the main frame. means for tiltingthe blade, means for angularly adjusting the blade, and means forlocking the blade to the push bar in a set angular position.

7.`In a road scraper, the combinationv of a main frame, guides supportedby and depending from the main frame, a single central push barsupported at itsrear end by the main frame for universal movement andhaving its front end portion passing between said guides, a bladeconnected with the front end of the ush bar, and means for angularlyadjustmg the blade.

8. In a road scraper, the combination of a frame, an upright supportingbed plate at the top of the frame, a threaded blade-supporting memberdisposed vertically and passing freely through said bed plate, a blade.a universal coupling connectin the blade at its center with the lowerend o said I member, and a hand wheel swiveled upon the bed plate andhaving an internally threaded hub engaging the threaded bladesupportingmember.

9. In a road scraper, the combination of a frame, a vertically disposedthreaded blade-supporting member mounted freely in the frame, a bladecarried by the lower end of said member, a hand wheel swiveled upon theframe and having an internally threaded hub engaging and supporting thesaid threaded blade-su porting member whereby said member and) the blademay be adjusted vertically, said member having an angular upperterminal, and a turning lever fitted upon said terminal, whereby thebladesupporting member may be rotated to eec't horizontal angularadjustment of the blade.

10. ln a road scraper, the combination of a frame, a vertically disposedthreaded bladesupportng member mounted freely in the fra-me, a bladecarried by the lower end of 5 said member, a hand wheel fitted upon thesaid member and having an internally threaded hub engaging the samewhereby rotation of said hand wheel will eect vertical travel thereofalong theblade-support l@ ing member, a collar fitted about said hub,and e link pivoted at its upper end to said collar and at its lower endto the blade at one side of the center thereof.

ifi-9453525 ll. ln a road scra er, the combination of a frame, avertical y dis osed blade-supporting member carried y the frame, ablade, a universal couplin connecting the blade at its center with t elower end of said member, means for turning said member and the bladeabout the longitudinal axis of the member, and means associated andcooperating with said member for tilting the blade.

ln testimony whereof l aix my signature.

.EDWARD e. eLEiurrrLL. [L sq

